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This pilot, by far, was the best I ever read - and I hope that insults every other pilot I worked on.

'Awake' was just the most beautiful show. For most of the shooting, we didn't know if they were going to air. You never knew. We were just trying to make it the best it could.

Pilots are so hard because you have to introduce all these characters, you have to hook an audience, and an audience has such a smaller attention span than maybe they used to have.

One of my great joys in life is being a pilot. There is a great sense of freedom in soaring through the sky. You get a different perspective up there. Seeing things that aren't so apparent from the ground.

Every pilot thinks they're the best pilot in the world. I think I'm the best pilot.

Aviation - and space travel, in particular - have always been especially captivating.

For the last four or five years, I had been in the position where I didn't have to take a pilot. I took this one because the script and the people were terrific. It never frightened me. As we were doing the pilot, I could tell that it was working.

A pilot is like the most extensive dress rehearsal you can ever imagine, because the writers are learning about the actors, the actors are learning about the characters.

I was a big fan of 'Awake' and also 'Lone Star.'

I get inspired when I look at Tom Lennon, who did 'Reno 911!' for six seasons while writing huge movies and directing and also doing other pilots; he did that FX pilot, the 'Star Trek' thing.